


home was never on the ground

by MidnightBlueMoon



Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Established Relationship, F/M, M/M, Multi, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-14
Updated: 2018-09-14
Packaged: 2019-07-12 09:31:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15992447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightBlueMoon/pseuds/MidnightBlueMoon
Summary: Gazelle only looks up when she hears the bedroom door swing open. Eggsy opens the door carefully, doesn’t let it swing open the way he sometimes does when he’s spending more time around them. It’s like he’s still on the mission, waiting for guns, bombs, or rocket missiles launched at him.Or, domestic fluff.





	home was never on the ground

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written for this fandom in _two and a half years_. Holy cow.  
>  Anyway, this was just a thought stuck in my mind. My awesome friend R. beta-ed it for me. ♥  
> 

They’re already in bed when he comes home. Gazelle is leaning against the headboard, reading a book Charlie recommended her – it’s actually good so far, which can’t be said about all of the books Charlie recommended her – but she looks up as soon as she hears the front door open. She doesn’t startle at the slightest sounds anymore, but she still feels the tension in her shoulders and only when she hears familiar footsteps does it melt away.

Charlie, who has been lying on his stomach reading his own book, looks at her. He smiles at her, with the soft edge to it she had come to secretly think of as home. He never wears that expression around anyone else but them – it’s a secret side only they get to see.

She smiles back at him. It sometimes hurts to smile because she still wonders if this is real, but right now it doesn’t hurt. It only feels good.

Going back to her reading, Gazelle finds herself being drawn back into the story. Charlie sometimes smirks at her when he needs to call her name twice before she reacts to it as if he wants to say: See, I told you so.

She only looks up again when she hears the bedroom door swing open. Eggsy opens the door carefully, doesn’t let it swing open the way he sometimes does when he’s spending more time around them. It’s like he’s still on the mission, waiting for guns, bombs or rocket missiles launched at him. Eggsy is still dressed in his Kingsman suit, his eyes sharp and clever. Gazelle can see the shadows around them, though. It’s always like this: the suit is his shield against the world, a shield against all the bad memories he makes out there. When Eggsy takes it off, he’ll stop moving like a soldier waiting to be shot at. The man in question pauses upon seeing his datefriends in bed. For a second Gazelle thinks about the picture their boyfriend gets to see.

Both of them are wearing their sleeping clothes. For Gazelle, that means she’s wearing a shirt that once belonged to Charlie and is huge on her – it ends around mid-thigh and she loves the dark red color of it. Charlie is wearing sleeping pants in the exact same color. He’s not wearing a shirt and he has his prosthetic arm attached to his body. He doesn’t like wearing a shirt, when he takes off his arm – actually he hates it. At first, he didn’t want to talk about it, but one night he quietly confessed that wearing a shirt reminded him of the fact that one sleeve was empty, that some part of him was gone.

Charlie has shoved his glasses – Gazelle couldn’t stop laughing for five minutes once she found out he actually needed them to read – up into his hair. Hair he’s growing out, finally not slicking his curls back down. He looks a little rumpled, with his book placed face-down on the bed so he can turn around to look at his boyfriend. Their boyfriend.

The word still tastes weird on Gazelle’s tongue, but she is growing used to it. The first few times they called her girlfriend, she actually flinched. It didn’t feel uncomfortable – just strange. She had never seen herself as someone’s girlfriend, had never considered being in a relationship one day. And surely not with two boys at the same time.

Gazelle thinks about what she looks like for a second, too. She’s taken her prostheses off for the night already – it used to make her vulnerable, but now it feels like taking off her armor. She still has a gun in her night drawer – and one hidden behind the headboard, for the nights she sleeps in the middle – but nowadays she places her legs on the side of the bed. They have a box where she can put them in, so no-one steps on a leg in the middle of the night. Charlie’s arm has a box too, but more often than not his arm ends up on his nightstand. Sometimes he falls asleep with it on and one of the others has to take it off for him. They know he hates it if he wakes up and doesn’t know where it is, so they place it somewhere he’ll see it when he wakes up.

Her hair is soft, falling down onto her shoulders. Her bangs are longer than she used to wear them, falling into her eyes. She knows she looks softer than she used to. It feels good – she was so used to being all sharp angles that she didn’t notice she was cutting open her own skin too.

Gazelle places her bookmark in her book before she puts it on the nightstand. Looking at her boyfriend, her face turns into a frown. She exchanges a quick glance with Charlie, who looks just as worried. She sits up, pushing herself onto her knees.

Eggsy is still standing in the door frame. He’s standing straight, shoulders squared. He looks like a soldier, like he’s still on the battlefield. Something he shouldn’t feel like in their bedroom.

Charlie rolls off the bed while Gazelle scoots closer to the edge. She realizes somewhere in her mind that Charlie is trying to stay in Eggsy’s line of sight, both of his hands on display for him. He is moving towards him, with soft but audible steps. Gazelle knows that Charlie can sneak over the floor like a ghost if he wants to – which is quite impressive for a man his size – so she’s aware that he’s doing it for Eggsy’s sake.

She focuses back on Eggsy.“Hey. You’re safe, Eggsy.” His eyes are scanning her face and she isn’t sure what he is looking for, but he seems to find it. He nods softly and his shoulders slump a little. Then he exhales shakily and suddenly he seems a little unsteady on his feet. He raises a hand as if to steady himself against the door frame, but Charlie is already there. He wraps an arm around Eggsy’s waist and pulls him against his chest. Eggsy’s head sinks against Charlie’s shoulder and he lets himself be guided into the bedroom. Charlie is carefully supporting Eggsy and mumbling into his hair. “Shhh. We’ve got you, love.”

Eggsy nods softly against Charlie’s shoulder. There is a moment of silence where Eggsy just allows himself to be held, to slip out of the skin of Galahad and to become Eggsy again. When he opens his eyes again, Gazelle detects the softness on them, the kindness she fell in love with.

“Hey”, Eggsy says, eloquent as always. Charlie huffs but presses a kiss to his temple. “Hey yourself.”

Gazelle smiles at him and extends a hand towards her boyfriend. He intertwines their fingers with a soft smile. “Welcome home”, she says and she feels the happiness the term brings her now. It brings them all happiness now – it doesn’t fix the past, but they have built this from nothing and it only belongs to them. She can see the happiness and the gratefulness in Eggsy’s eyes as well. Squeezing his hand slightly, she pats the bed next to her with her other hand. “Are you coming to bed?”

Eggsy generally sleeps in the bed with them, but sometimes after a mission, he doesn’t. There is a vulnerability to sleeping next to them that makes Eggsy anxious after the hard missions, and neither Gazelle nor Charlie blame him. It’s a low price to pay. Gazelle really hopes he won’t go for the couch tonight, but she wants to give him the option.

Eggsy nods though. Charlie hums, a happy sound against Eggsy’s temples and kicks the door closed. “Come on, then. But you need to get out of those clothes.”

Eggsy is still wearing his Kingsman suit and while he looks amazing in it, it’s a constant reminder of the mission he left behind. In here, they only belong to each other. They are completely cut off from the outside world – at least they like to pretend they are.

Gazelle needs to let go of Eggsy’s hand to scoot to the edge of the bed and sit down on it, her legs dangling over the edge. “Come here”, she says softly.

Eggsy carefully frees himself of Charlie’s embrace. Stepping up to her, he brushes her hair behind her ear, like he can’t help himself. Gazelle smiles at him and puts a hand on his neck, gently dragging him down to kiss her. It’s a short kiss, sweet and lazy. When they part, she’s still smiling.

His tie still looks flawless when she starts to unfasten the knot. She knows it will crinkle up, but Gazelle doesn’t really care about that right now, so she just drops it onto the floor. She starts on the buttons when she hears Eggsy’s breath hitch and even out again. Looking up from her task she notices that Charlie has slid up behind Eggsy and pushed his suit jacket down his arms. He doesn’t throw it on the floor, but he puts it onto the chair next to the dresser which is already a fashion crime for Charlie’s standards. Gazelle kind of wants to call him out on it because a day where Charlie is not putting clothes on a hanger is a day that should be marked in a calendar. But with a look at Eggsy’s face, she’s refocusing on the task at hand. Her boyfriend needs to get some sleep. So she just rolls her eyes and shushes Eggsy, when he opens his mouth. “We know you can do it yourself. But we like to help you.” Eggsy snaps his mouth shut again, sagging a little, the weight of the world taken off his shoulders for a moment.

Gazelle keeps working on the buttons, but she notices that Charlie’s hands have moved around Eggsy’s hips and are working on getting rid of his belt and suit pants. For a second she thinks about all the ways this could go, but this is not the night for that. Eggsy needs them to be his safety net tonight – just as he is theirs.

So she makes quick work of the rest of his buttons, pushing the shirt off of his shoulders. Charlie helps her push it past Eggsy’s hands, causing it to end up bunched up on the floor. Eggsy pants drop to the floor with a soft thud and then he’s standing there in just his underwear and socks. Charlie drops a soft kiss on Eggsy’s shoulder, such a small sign of affection that makes Gazelle’s heart lurch in her chest. “Get in bed.” Charlie’s voice is just as soft, so different from the way he talks outside this room. There he needs to be dangerous, demanding, scary. In here, he’s just a boy. Just as Gazelle is just a girl. The world may never forgive them for what they have done, but they are not looking for its forgiveness. They only need one person to forgive them and he already has.

Eggsy frees himself from Charlie’s gentle embrace and climbs onto the bed next to Gazelle. He plops himself down for a second to strip off his socks before he scoots up the bed and leans against the headboard. With a sigh, he relaxes against it, taking his glasses off and putting them on Gazelle’s nightstand.

Gazelle looks up at Charlie, who has started playing with one of the straps holding his arm. “Do you want to take it off?” she asks softly. Charlie seems unsure like he’s fighting with himself.

Pushing herself up on her knees, Gazelle grabs his hand and pulls him in. Even with her kneeling on the bed, he is taller than her. Placing her hand on the straps holding his arms, she catches his eye. “You are beautiful. No matter what.” She can see the disbelief in his eyes, that he doesn’t think so – but she can also see that he’s trying to believe her.

“She’s right”, announces a soft voice from behind her. Charlie’s eyes flicker from her face to Eggsy behind her and Gazelle can feel the affection bleeding out of him. Charlie leans down and kisses her, just as sweetly as she kissed Eggsy.

“Yes. I want to take it off”, he whispers against her lips and she smiles. Carefully, she starts to loosen the straps. She knows Charlie could take it off on his own, but it’s easier if she does it for him. Plus, it’s really intimate – Charlie hides his scars, tries to pretend they are not there. Letting her take his prosthesis off is a huge deal and Gazelle knows it.

Sometimes she catches Eggsy looking at Charlie’s chest guiltily and it hurts her. She knows it is technically Eggsy’s fault, he caused it – but it’s not his fault. He did what he had to do and she doesn’t resent him for poisoning him. He did his job, just as she did. But she also knows that being poisoned does not compare to losing an arm. Charlie doesn’t hold a grudge against Eggsy, which is something Gazelle isn’t sure she would be able to do if she was in his position. She hopes she would be.

But it’s still hard on both of them. Once, Gazelle found them on the bed with Eggsy tracing every scar, kissing it and whispering “I’m so sorry” into Charlie’s skin. Charlie whispered back, “It’s not your fault”, but it didn’t help. They both cried that night, unable to fix the situation properly, but trusting each other to know that they meant what they said.

Concentrating on the task at hand, she finally detaches Charlie’s arm carefully from his body. She can hear his breath catch in his lungs, can see the way he tenses when the arm is taken off. It’s a thing she can understand – she has lost her feet years ago, but taking her prostheses off still feels weird. Crawling up the bed to place his arm on the top of his nightstand, she motions for him to follow.

Charlie does – kind of. He takes a step around the bed and flops down onto it, spreading himself out over the mattress. Gazelle feels a smile tug at her lips.

Once she placed the arm safely on the top of the nightstand, she turns around and just takes in her boys. Eggsy is still resting against the headboard, eyes half-closed, body relaxed and soft. Charlie is resting on his side of the bed, pushing himself up on his elbow to look at both of them.

Gazelle decides that she’s too lazy to walk around the bed to get to her side. So she lifts one leg over Charlie’s back, placing a kiss on his cheek when he turns his head. But then he tries to kiss her for real and shifts his upper body, which makes her lose her balance. She topples over, dropping to her side. Laughing, she pushes herself up again. Pressing her lips to his works way better now that she is lying next to him. Sliding a hand up his neck, she kisses him properly this time. The kiss is still sweet, still a little lazy, but it’s definitely not chaste. They only break apart when they hear a sleepy voice. “Getting started without me, I see.”

Looking up at Eggsy, she is greeted with a smile so gentle it makes her heart stop for a moment. She smiles up at him happily, while Charlie answers: “I think our boyfriend is feeling a little left out, love.” Gazelle laughs a little at both of them because this is something she never thought she’d have, but here she is.

Pushing herself onto her knees, she tries to crawl over Eggsy to her side of her bed. He catches her elbow and helps her balance and when she’s on her side, she lets herself sink onto the bed.

Looking over, she notices that Charlie has pushed himself up a bit, managing to find a comfortable sleeping position. Charlie sleeps on his stomach, which is why he insisted on taking the left side of the bed. At the time they had to have a discussion about whether they are talking about the left side of the bed when lying on it or when looking at it – they were talking about the latter one. So Gazelle usually gets the right side and Eggsy ends up in the middle. Of course, sometimes Gazelle or Charlie sleep in the middle, but Charlie never sleeps on the right side of the bed. The idea of not being able to grab a weapon – just in case – keeps him awake, so they don’t try that.

Eggsy finally scoots down, letting himself settle into the bed. He sighs when Gazelle drags the covers up over his torso. “Thank you”, he mumbles. She just hums her acknowledgment.

Charlie turns his light off, snuggling deeper into the pillow. Then he suddenly pushes himself up, fast enough that Eggsy drowsily blinks at him. Charlie leans over and kisses Eggsy. It’s not quite chaste, but it’s definitely a good night kiss. Eggsy slides his arms around Charlie’s neck, holding on for a second longer than strictly necessary. Once they break apart, Gazelle reaches over and pulls Charlie closer to herself, kissing him quickly. The angle is a little odd, leaning halfway over Eggsy, but it works. Charlie smiles at her softly, before he drops back down onto the bed. Eggsy’s right arm seems to be his substitute for a pillow nowadays. Sliding a hand over Eggsy’s cheek, Gazelle tips his chin up, kissing him as well.

Eggsy’s left hand comes up to her neck, tangling itself in her hair. The kiss is over far too quickly, but it’s okay. They have more time tomorrow.

Flopping onto her back, Gazelle stretches a little to turn off her light as well. When she scoots closer to snuggle into Eggsy’s side, she hears him exhale slowly. It’s deliberate, soft, but relaxed. Curling her arm around his waist, she whispers against his skin: “Good night.”

“G’night.” She can feel Eggsy’s slightly slurred words vibrate in his chest. Charlie whispers back: “Good night, sleep well.” She settles her hand on his hip and smiles against Eggsy’s skin, the happiness blooming in her chest.

They fall asleep like this, tangled up and happy. Everything else can wait until the morning.

**Author's Note:**

> The title is a line from _No Roots_ by Alice Merton. (I have an unhealthy obsession with that song.)  
>  Comments are always appreciated.


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